RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born in 259 AD in Sarmizegetusa, Wynni was a soldier in the Vandal army that lost to Probus at the Lech river and were exiled to Britain. Seeking revenge, she entered an interdimensional portal at Stonehenge and returned decades later with advanced tactics and equipment to defeat the Roman imperialists once and for all.
Born in 51 BC in Gaetulia, Wisi Yende, a footsoldier in the army of the Musulamii tribe, was abducted by aliens during a Sahara desert sandstorm and pressed into service to fight a cyberwar in a distant future dimension.
Born in 507 AD in the shadow of Carthage, Zeno is celebrated not for valour in battle but for his deft avoidance of it. A slacker and draft dodger, he shirked military duties, only to be caught in the Byzantine tide that brutally sacked his city. Seized by Belisarius’s legions, he was dispatched to the endless hemp fields of North Africa, a punishment he secretly relishes.
Born 405 AD in Pelso, Tina was the illegitimate daughter of Godigisel and a servant woman. Interdimensional traveler and half sister to King Genseric, she led Vandal troops razing cities across Spain, Africa and Italy, culminating in the great Sack of Rome in 455 AD.
Born 420 AD in Ostia, Bluto is a Bacchanalian degenerate and former slave who gained his freedom by blackmailing his treasonous master who also allowed Bluto to hold an endless toga party in his expansive villa, which lasted until this Broski perished of alcohol poisoning and an overdose of the munchies.
Born 2141 AD in Neo-Carthage, Zorin serves as the cunning vizier to the city’s governor, a corrupt puppet of the Roman Empire suzerain. A lover of vanity, gladiatorial combat and a master of subterfuge with a network of spies, he wields a rare tool, the Septivox, granting him insight into alternate dimensions. Meanwhile, beneath the city’s opulent surface, a cloned Hannibal Barca leads an underground rebellion, poised to dismantle the governor’s fragile rule, propped up by deceit and manipulation.
Born in 2145 AD on the red planet Mars, Rathien is a hot-tempered, relentless enforcer for cloned Hannibal Barca’s rebellion in Neo-Carthage. Freed from hard space labour, he hides from facial recognition drones while executing sabotage and assassinations against the corrupt governor Mordax Mazar and his cronies. Known for his mercenary tactics and short temper, Rathien’s methods frequently cause problems, but his loyalty and determination make him an indispensable, albeit troublesome, asset to the cause.
Born 365 AD in Cagliari, Nereus is a pearl diver who discovered an interdimensional portal underwater which he used as his personal playground until he was kidnapped by aliens in league with Emperor Theodosius and forced to battle in a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born 219 BC in Larissa, Zoe is the rebellious daughter of a wealthy lord who cast her lot with the invading Romans before the Battle of Cynoscephalae. She ended up wedding a soldier, Viggo, with whom she ran away by funding a voyage to an alternate steampunk dimension that has been ravaged by the undead.
Born 197 BC in Nikonion, Joe was born a slave, toiling in the vast wheat fields of the steppe until one day he saved his master’s life by killing a Pontic magistrate who had come to arrest and execute him for tax evasion. Freed, now Joe lives life on the run.
Born 2161 AD in Tingis, Sabria was sold into servitude to a Roman senator obsessed with ancient Numidian texts. He gave her a gold monocle to read for him—she used it to learn for herself. In Neo-Carthage, she moves through elite circles unnoticed, feeding intelligence to the resistance. At a cursed relic auction, she drew in Velia Vulfric—the flippant socialite with a taste for the macabre—whose curiosity she gradually turned into complicity, and perhaps something more…
Born 1970 AD in Lugdunum, Vibrian was abducted through an interdimensional portal and forced to fight in the cybercolossea of the 28th century. A Savate and Capoeira master, he won his freedom after a legendary, crippling bout against a Belgic kickboxer, leaving the arena behind to hitchhike the galaxy. Now an intergalactic nomad, Vibrian drifts through neon-lit cities and cosmic discotheques, embracing a life unbound by purpose, where the only rhythm he follows is his own.
Born 2020 AD in Neo-Volubilis, Cyp is a revolutionary soothsayer with the unique ability to peer into the future using a special telescopic lens. As his faithful poodle vigilantly stands guard, Cyp uses his powers of foresight to aid his revolutionary ally, a clone of Hannibal Barca. Yet, mindful of the warnings from Oedipus Rex, Hannibal remains suspicious of Cyp’s prophecies. Undeterred, Cyp continues to optimistically prophesize Hannibal’s inevitable triumph over the corrupt Roman occupiers in North Africa.
Born in 274 AD in Trento, Rolfus was part of the mysterious Cthulu Cohort that, according to legend, disappeared in a cave and returned as cybernetic drones believe to be puppeteered by an extradimensional alien force loyal to Emperor Diocletian.
Born 80 BC in Sinope, Kyma lives a simple life as the proprietor of a bait and tackle shop on the Black Sea, when she’s not following her rock star lover, Stevie Stratonice, on an interdimensional concert tour.
